The present invention relates generally to a toy projectile launcher and, more particularly, to a projectile launcher having a slidable outer cylinder and a stationary inner compression member.
Toy projectile launchers that eject toy projectiles with a burst of pressurized air are generally known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,954 to Smith discloses a projectile launcher having a housing, a projectile launch tube slidably joined to the housing for movement between a first position and a second position, a launch tube spring biasing the launch tube towards the first position and a piston slidably disposed in the housing for movement from an un-cocked position to a cocked position in response to the launch tube moving from the first position to the second position. The launch tube includes a first portion for releasably mounting a projectile and a hollow second portion in fluid communication with the first portion, with the piston moving from the cocked position to the un-cocked position to compress fluid in the second portion of the launch tube. The projectile launcher further includes a piston spring biasing the piston toward the un-cocked position, a sear slidably joined to the housing for releasably retaining the piston in the cocked position, and a release means for sliding the sear to release the piston from the cocked position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,326 to Brown et al., discloses a toy projectile launcher having a housing, a cylinder fixed to the housing and defining an inner bore, a projectile launch tube slidably disposed in the cylinder for movement from a cocked position to an un-cocked position to compress gas in the cylinder, and a projectile holder in fluid communication with the cylinder to releasably mount a projectile to be launched. The toy projectile launcher further includes a seal fixed to the projectile launch tube and in sealing engagement with the cylinder inner bore, a sear for releasably engaging the projectile launch tube in the cocked position, biasing means for returning the projectile launch tube to the un-cocked position, and a trigger for engaging the sear to release the projectile launch tube from the cocked position and emit compressed gas to the projectile holder.